Margaritaville Vacation Club - St. Thomas — Hotel in Saint Thomas

A Run-Down Smelly Room overlooking a Closed Beach and Non-Air-Conditioned Restaurant!

Checking in was standard and friendly. We were disappointed to learn the beach was closed and that we were not informed of the condition of the resort prior to arrival. We were charged for parking, but soon discovered you could not get anywhere near your room and the parking lot was full. Their solution is to have golf carts shuttle you “to and fro” your unit to the parking lot. This might be acceptable if they had enough shuttles to accommodate the guests. It turns out several golf carts were broken, and Margaritaville was understaffed in this department. The golf carts that did work seemed to never be available when you needed them. We often waited in the heat hoping to get a ride, when we usually just ended up walking up the steep elevation and hundreds of stairs to get to the room, parking lot, and hilltop pool. This took a toll on us physically and dampened any “resort” feel we should have had.

Upon entering the 2 Bedroom Presidential the first time, we were hit with a strong fish smell throughout the suite. We tried to dial zero on the phone, but the phone was not working. When we called the front desk on our cellphone, they said they would send someone to fix the phone. This never happened over our entire 8 day stay, despite telling everyone who kept telling us to dial zero that our phone did not work. Anyway, we thought the fish smell would dissipate, but it never did. All our clothes and bags now smell like fish.

Room quality: Dishwasher has rusty rack, upholstery is dirty, guest shower moldy, dining room table surface is worn, mattress is uncomfortable, and the bed base is damaged and worn. Overall, poor room quality. “Run Down” is the best description. Laundry Machines, Coffee Maker, and separate crushed Ice Maker were the only items with a new quality appearance. Circuit Breaker tripped mid stay when using the complicated Margaritaville Machine. Wiring is suspect.

We made our way to the hilltop pool with our wrist bands and ordered drinks. When asked for a credit card the bartender explained you cannot charge your drinks to the room. WHAT??? How does the front desk not explain that to you on check-in??? We ended up having to go up and down the steep stairs again in the heat to retrieve Credit Card (no shuttle available).

Then we went to dine at Margaritaville Restaurant. We called for a cart, they told us to go immediately outside – but no cart came within 15 minutes, so we walked in the heat again. Inexplicably, there is NO AIR CONDITIONING at the restaurant, so, we sat at a table sweating in misery (no wind that evening). For the rest of the stay, we ended up resorting to cooking in the “slightly cooler” room (Suite AC could not keep up with heat either) or driving to other establishments for lunch and dinner. After our “sweat fest” dinner (brought my credit card this time, because you also cannot charge meal to room - of course), we ended up tipping the waitress 40%, because I did not notice the small sign that says tip is included on all the bills. WHAT??? We are a party of 2 (not 6 or 8), how does the front desk not explain that to you at check-in??? She did deserve it though working in those conditions (she was dying from the heat as well). This unintentional overtipping also happened with the hillside bartender. I do love to overtip, I just like to know about it because it was my choice. By day 2 I figured it out. No one is there to help you. There are zero informational handouts in the room. No instructions for anything (Margaritaville Machine, Bose Sound Bar, Nothing).

Next morning, we wanted to relax by the main pool during the day. Too bad – they have the loudest construction crew grinding and hammering with power tools on all the buildings next to the pool. Not to mention the air around the beach is full of the smell of decomposing sorghum. Again, we were not informed of this prior to arrival or even by the front desk on check-in.

Not up to resort standards - do...

This will be an extensive review mainly for families considering going to this resort as I would have loved to know some things in advance. Overall our stay was seamless without any major issues.

Getting to resort: We (2 adults, 1 toddler & 1 infant) flew in, airport is small and with a short walk you will be at front of airport with a plethora of taxi cabs waiting out. There was a bit of a rush but we got into a small passenger van with about 10 others. The drive to Margaritaville is about 15-20 minutes up hills and cliffs but overall safe. The biggest surprise was arriving and paying 24$ a person one way. Thankfully, they did not charge for my infant.

Check in: We called in advance for early check in. We were told they had walk in units but our balcony room was not ready until about 1 hour later after arrival around 1 pm. I did have to call back to check on status but they were very accommodating.

Room: We stood in a studio, it had a king bed and full couch with pull out along with balcony with chairs and small table. There is a decent size fridge, larger than most mini fridges in standard hotel rooms but smaller than a regular household appliance. Also, they stocked the room with all dishes, cups, utensils, can opener, cooking utensils. The one problem is there was not stovetop or hot plate. It seemed strange so I called the front desk and was told they didn’t carry those only to find out a few days later they have limited number so if you want to have one, request in advance. We made due with microwave during our stay.

Transportation: Unless you are in a unit near the lobby and restaurant, you will likely need a shuttle to get to hillside rooms. We did not experience more than 7-10 minute wait for one to take us to and fro at the resort. Most of the times it was less than 5 minutes. Also, the shuttles are really golf carts, 4-6 passenger. We asked how many usually run at one time and the driver told us about 3 which surprised us for the size of the resort.

Food: This is the part that I really wanted to share due to our family having dietary restrictions. You basically have two options at the actual resort…1) Margaritaville restaurant which is a mix of seafood and sandwiches/burgers. You will have about 2-3 vegetarian options if you don’t count the sides however we ate there twice and enjoyed it. 2) Coffee shop that has a handful of sandwiches and coffees and two smoothie options (blueberry or banana). The coffee shop also had water bottles, some boxed/processed foods and bottled drinks for sale.

Other food options we explored that required walking outside of resort: -Louie’s market: 5 minute walk without sidewalks (at your own risk) to the right of resort had an awesome local buffet style restaurant in which we purchased a large plate with 4 items for $16 and fed the whole family. Also, next door they have a small grocery store with some produce, eggs, milk, boxed and canned foods and even pampers and fresh bread. Do be aware, overall, island prices are much more than the states and even more at these smaller stores. For example, one can of bush baked beans 5.99$, 1 gallon of water $2.50, 1 lb if rice $4.00 -Restaurant 39: a local spot on the way to Coki point beach located to the left at the top of hill. They don’t open until after 5 but this place had amazing food and again a huge serving with multiple sides for 12-15$. We only saw locals here and they all knew to call in advance and pick up their meal compared to us who waited for 30 minutes for the food. However, it was fresh and good. The number in case you want to be ahead is in attached picture with menu. -Ma’s veg deli: we got there at 10am and they were not open. The owner did open after a few minutes though and apologized for being behind as apparently she was short staffed. We got 3 turnovers and muffins for the day that all were amazing. In the same plaza is Jerry’s bread a local bakery. -Senor pizza: only place we could find to deliver. We ordered a calzone and it was decent and cost $20, they...

This is my first vacation with my family since CoVid started. I read many reviews regarding this resort. A lot were good but the bad reviews made me nervous. The time of the reviews made me even more uneasy as they were written a few weeks before my vacation date. However I want to say to anyone looking to come to this beautiful Island DON’T BELIEVE ANY OF THOSE REVIEWS!!!!! I have never experienced a group of people so accommodating and hospitable in all my years of vacationing. Everyone was so amazing. We were greeted with Margaritas (delicious). We were able to check into our room two hours prior to check in. Not to mention this is a busy time of year and all their rooms are booked. This didn’t cause any issues for us. U’Leeka was super sweet checking us in and we were sent over to our assigned Beautiful Concierge specialist for our trip Delma. She gave us her personal cell phone number and told us to call her anytime with any cares or concerns. Our driver, I didn’t catch his name, loaded our luggage in the golf cart and took us right to our room. He even unloaded our luggage and parked it in front of our door. Our room was cleaned to perfection. I didn’t even feel the need to spray down our sheets or do a spot check like I normally do. Because they are full this time of year, the room available to my family of four was a studio. Although it fits us comfortably, my husband and I would prefer privacy from our daughters. We went to the customer service desk later that evening to request a possible upgrade if one come available during the course of our stay and the immediate attention we were given made me so emotional. The care and concern given to us by Duane, Shanise ( I hope I got her name right she’s the customer service manager) and Shenique was out of this world. They assured us they would stay on top of anything that opens up for us. They gave us some pointers for food and other stuff before we left. While deciding our options for food outside we ran into Delma who gave us a suggestion on another place to go for food. She even called the place to see if they had a dish I was interested in. We decided to take her suggestion and it was the absolute best ending to our night. The hilltop pool is incredible and the adults don’t mind the children being at the pool. It doesn’t take away from the vibe. Lastly, this is our second day here and we received a call from Duane regarding our request for an upgrade and he told us one would be available during our week stay and gave us instructions on what to do the day we switch rooms to make the transition easier. He even said he’d make sure his team gets the room ready as soon as the guest check out so it can be ready as early as possible. I’m so overwhelmed with gratitude towards the hospitality of all the amazing Representatives we’ve encountered at Margaritaville. I will be leaving another review closer to close...